Downloads and Podcasts

The massive growth of the Internet has brought an unexpected bonus: the release of downloads and podcasts of many of my video and audio interviews and appearances.

(Audio)Book It!

For those wanting that good old fashioned book on tape -- for that long drive, perhaps -- the first Uplift Trilogy (Sundiver, Startide Rising, and The Uplift War) are all available from Audible.com.

Chief ArchiTech Officer

The "Future in Review" (FiRe) conference is a top technology-business session conference that meets in San Diego every May. In 2007, I was asked to run an "architechs-style workshop" in which the CTOs (Chief Technology Officers) from several major companies would be asked to solve a design problem... in this case to work out "the next cell phone." Aided by other conference attendees, the CTOs held working sessions across two days... whereupon I asked for their report in front of a live audience. Portions of this event can be viewed online. (It's caled "CTO Roundup." Go to the video that's 8th from the bottom.)

Are We Good Ancestors?

I introduce and moderate the theme of a video -- and conference -- discussing Jonas Salk's notion of the "Good Ancestor Principle"... the question of whether our descendants will judge us to have been wise... or profligate and destructive of their chances for a decent life and world.

The Crystal Sphere

Check out the StarShipSofa site, where they have some really terrific podcasts of classic science fiction stories. They made an earnest effort to recite "The Crystal Spheres" -- though it's a very hard story to do in audio, filled with combined-words that most readers need to eye scan a few times in order to grasp or put in context. Something most can do unconsciously, but cannot do in audio. That understood, this narrator does a fine job with this Hugo-winning story.

I'm Beyond Belief

Are any of you out there interested in a wild ride through an idea-fest, ranging from the Fermi Paradox to existence tests for God? See my speech at the recent conference held at the Salk Institute -- "Beyond Belief: Enlightenment 2.0." There were many other fine presentations on topics ranging from "The end of literary postmodernism" to "The myth of pervasive Islamo-terrorism."

The Giving Plague Keeps Giving

Escape Pod posted a podcast-reading (pretty good) of my short story "The Giving Plague."

National Defense

National Public Radio discusses the SIGMA science fiction authors consulting group, which has focused its attention on national defense.

Culture Shock

I was interviewed on the topic of "Messages to ET" on the radio show CULTURE SHOCK of the BBC World Service.

Transparency's Tenth

Meanwhile closer to Earth, David S. Levine of the Stanford Law School interviewed me on the continuing importance and relevance of The Transparent Society as the book approaches its tenth anniversary. Indeed, it is one of the only public policy tomes of the nineties still in print and still widely discussed.

Spying and Censorship

PBS has posted a podcast of a panel discussion about spying and censorship on the Internet.

Accellerating Change

"Science Fiction Writing" and "Evaluating Horizons" were recorded at Accellerating Change in 2004. The latter explores how we explore future possibilities, including far-out ones like the "singularity" -- and whether humans really want to become demigods.

Planetfest '97

My speech at Planetfest '97 was recently You-Tubed. A classic about our future in space!

Being Human in a Technological World

Audio transcript is now available for a panel discussion on "Human Rights, Technology & the Humanities," at a conference hosted by HumaniTech at the University of California, Irvine, (May 2005). Also, an excellent audio talk about the future "surveillance panopticon" by tech pundit Jamais Cascio is very worthwhile.

Video Surveillance

Those of you with a good internet link and RealAudio can pull in three fun interviews that originally ran on National Public Radio and are now archived for ready access from the NPR site. One is about 'Video Surveillance' -- deriving from The Transparent Society. The other two are about science fiction -- a discussion of "The Science in Science Fiction" with William Gibson and one about "Science Fiction Writing."

DC Sniper Takes Aim at Privacy

An October appearance as guest on NPR's show "Talk of the Nation" -- discussing video surveillance in light of the DC Sniper Terror -- can be downloaded from NPR.

Must Be Something in the Water

UCSD Alumni Science Fiction Authors (88 min. | #6557) (7/9/2002) discuss why UCSD has cultivated more science fiction writers than any other university of our time, including such luminaries as panel participants David Brin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Vernor Vinge and Gregory Benford.

Privacy and NPR

This interview, which originally ran on National Public Radio, is about 'Video Surveillance' -- deriving from The Transparent Society.

The Science in Science Fiction

Another National Public Radio interview which is newly available on their site is a discussion of "The Science in Science Fiction," with William Gibson.

Science Fiction Writing

National Public Radio has posted a third interview with me, this one about "Science Fiction Writing."

I'm a Comic Strip!

Seems I'm making appearances in a number of surprising pop-cult venues. See a recent spread that features a novel by yours truly, in a popular literary comic strip... the "Unshelved Book Club." I've also been interviewed for several episodes of a podcast "The Future And You."

Of course some of this is in reaction to the wildly popular-culture book King Kong Is Back!: An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape! (Smart Pop series) -- a fun and smart collection of 21 essays examining King Kong from every angle. (Some will surprise you.) But if you think that was something, just keep your eyes open for the next brash offering -- Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time (Smart Pop series)!